In-Depth Review of Knitting Yarn

Knitter's Review
July 12, 2012

It's a perfectly splendid summer day here in Maine. The sunny skies are dotted with puffy, sheeplike clouds—perhaps Dorset or Suffolk—and the air smells so sweet, you could make yourself dizzy trying to get enough of it.

It's a day to be out on the porch playing with yarn, and it needn't involve actual knitting either. Why not roll out some plastic-wrap, don the rubber gloves, and have fun with dye? This week we revisit my favorite kit for dyeing yarn. It comes from Louet, and while it has "sock" in the name, you can use the yarn for pretty much anything you want.

KR Retreat Update
I've been busy applying the final squiggles of frosting to the giant metaphorical cake that is the Knitter's Review Retreat, and I couldn't be more excited. The event takes place November 8-11 at the Inn on the Lake in Canandaigua, New York. Our teachers this year? The esteemed Ann Budd, Sivia Harding, Amy Herzog, and Mary Scott Huff. Ann Budd has even come up with an ingenious new class idea just for us. If we're persistent, we might be able to convince her to turn it into her next book.

I will announce all the class, cost, and registration details in the July 26th newsletter. Registration will begin on Friday, August 3rd at 12 noon EST. You've been extra patient this year, and I do appreciate it.

Kickstarter Campaign: Mapuche Documentary
The Coded Stories project comes from the Chilean-born artist Guillermo Bert, who now lives in Los Angeles. After noticing that many of the motifs used by the indigenous Mapuche weavers in Chile resembled bar-codes, he's been working on an art installation that bridges modern bar-code technology and the Mapuche quest for cultural preservation. A documentary film crew has been accompanying him on his journeys, and they're raising funds for their final push to complete filming and bring the documentary to the public. The campaign ends on July 17th.

Cruising the Digital Archives
Need a little inspiration? Check out the digital archives of knitting historian Richard Rutt's collection. You'll find knitting tutorials, patterns, and publications spanning from 1800 to 1911.

In the Forums: Shop Keeping
We all have our embarrassing habits when we admire yarn in a shop. We sniff the yarn, rub it against our faces, make strange noises. But Minh goes one step further: She rearranges the yarn. It's not as bad as it sounds; she really just finds orphan skeins and puts them back with their siblings. What do you do? I confess, I'm also a shelf-tidier.

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As always, I thank you for your readership and your support.

Talk to you on July 26th!
Clara Parkes